iGA Istanbul Airport achieves Cirium's Platinum Award for operational excellence

ISTANBUL – iGA Istanbul Airport has been officially recognized for its operational excellence with the prestigious Airport Platinum Award certified by Cirium, one of the world’s most established organizations in aviation data and analytics. in recognition of its status as a leading global hub, iGA Istanbul Airport achieved significant success in Cirium’s 2025 On-Time Performance Review, a report that sets international aviation standards. The achievement, one of the most esteemed accolades in the global aviation industry, highlights iGA's operational discipline and sustainable growth strategy.   

It also underlines iGA’s consistent operational discipline in managing high traffic volumes; emphasizing its success in managing dense transit traffic and large-scale operations. Speaking at the Cirium award ceremony, iGA Istanbul Airport CEO Selahattin Bilgen said:

“This award is testament to our ability to manage complex operations and to provide an excellent experience for passengers at all times, even during busier and more demanding periods. In 2025, we hosted 84.3 million passengers and successfully managed 547,000 flights, breaking records with an average of 1,707 daily flights. Although everything appears calm and fluid on the surface for our passengers, it's testament to our fantastic team of experts who work 24/7 behind the scenes, to ensure our advanced technological infrastructure is always delivering at 100%. Receiving this award from Cirium is a major recongition of this unseen effort and our team are delighted with the result.”

Cirium CEO Jeremy Bowen said:

“This award is a reflection of the consistent and measurable development that has been impelmented at iGA Istanbul Airport. The entire team has worked tirelessley to increase its ‘On-Time Departure’ rate from 68.62% in 2023 to 76.28% in 2024, and most recently to 80.72% in 2025.  This is an impressive achievement and has meant iGA has climbed from 51st to 19th place in the global large airport rankings. It's particularly meaningful for a hub that connects Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East - a level of connectivity and daily traffic that very few airports in the world can manage. Improving performance in such an environment requires immense operational discipline and coordination between airlines, ground handling teams, and air traffic control. The data shows that iGA has raised the bar and maintained this high standard.”

iGA Istanbul Airport became the first airport in the world to meet all of its electricity consumption from solar energy in 2025. Folowing this latest achievement the airport is setting even more ambitious goals for 2026 by aiming to host over 90 million passengers by the end of the year which will exceed the total population of Türkiye.

iGA Istanbul Airport’s 2025 Operational Scorecard:

• Passenger Volume: 84.3 Million
• Total Flights: 547,000
• Daily Record: 1,707 flights and 283,000 passengers
• Connectivity: Over 330 destinations and 116 scheduled passenger airlines
• Sustainability: €212 million SPP (Solar Power Plant) investment producing 340 million kWh of clean energy annually
• Global Standing: World leader in global connectivity hub rankings according to ACI Europe data